"...and we just came together on defense..."
...in the fourth quarter (international ball is 4 15 minute quarters). The USA team trailed 67-57 going into the 4th quarter before doubling the Canadians production 28-14 to take the game 85-81. Some possession-based efficiency stats for the team:
It was indeed a defensive struggle (though I am not sure why - as Corey Fisher's quote linked at bottom - suggests, the squad is not worried about their offense), with turnovers (Canadian mostly), especially steals & fouls (Canada's 23 to USA's 17), dominating the stat line.
A closer look at the squad suggests a few players had very good games:
Starters are highlighted in green. Those five logged 48.5% of the playing time, giving everyone on the squad some time, but also, no doubt, due to foul troubles for Villanova's Corey Fisher (4 fouls) and Washington's Quincy Pondexter (3 fouls). If the boxscore is a good guide, offensive rebounds are going to be a problem, especially if the squad continues to have difficulties scoring efficiently.
Additional Links
The boxscore (.pdf format).
The AP story posted on the USA Basketball website (reproduced on most of the D1 school sites for squad members).
Post game quotes by the coach and several squad members (Corey Fisher among them).
...in the fourth quarter (international ball is 4 15 minute quarters). The USA team trailed 67-57 going into the 4th quarter before doubling the Canadians production 28-14 to take the game 85-81. Some possession-based efficiency stats for the team:
| On... | Eff | eFG | PPWS | OReb | DReb | TReb | TOR% | AST% | BLK% | STL% |
| Offense | 99.4 | 50.0 | 1.07 | 23.1 | 72.4 | 95.5 | 17.5 | 23.3 | 0.0 | 14.0 |
| Defense | 94.7 | 54.3 | 1.20 | 27.6 | 76.9 | 104.5 | 30.4 | 63.0 | 3.4 | 15.2 |
| Pace | 85.5 | |||||||||
It was indeed a defensive struggle (though I am not sure why - as Corey Fisher's quote linked at bottom - suggests, the squad is not worried about their offense), with turnovers (Canadian mostly), especially steals & fouls (Canada's 23 to USA's 17), dominating the stat line.
A closer look at the squad suggests a few players had very good games:
| Player | %PT | eFG | PPWS | Shot% | OReb | DReb |
| Anderson, James | 17.5 | 33.3 | 0.7 | 25.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Battle, Talor | 57.5 | 21.4 | 0.5 | 18.2 | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| Booker, Trevor | 42.5 | 37.5 | 0.7 | 28.1 | 5.0 | 40.6 |
| Brackins, Craig | 45.0 | 25.0 | 0.8 | 13.3 | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| Butler, Da'Sean | 77.5 | 62.5 | 1.4 | 23.1 | 2.7 | 4.4 |
| Fisher, Corey | 40.0 | 55.6 | 1.2 | 33.6 | 0.0 | 8.6 |
| Hayward, Lazar | 50.0 | 83.3 | 1.7 | 17.9 | 8.5 | 6.9 |
| Hummel, Robbie | 27.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 27.1 | 7.7 | 12.5 |
| Pondexter, Quincy | 37.5 | 100.0 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 18.4 |
| Thompson, Deon | 60.0 | 66.7 | 1.4 | 14.9 | 3.5 | 28.7 |
| Turner, Evan | 27.5 | 83.3 | 1.2 | 16.3 | 7.7 | 37.6 |
| Varnado, Jarvis | 17.5 | 50.0 | 1.0 | 17.1 | 24.3 | 0.0 |
Starters are highlighted in green. Those five logged 48.5% of the playing time, giving everyone on the squad some time, but also, no doubt, due to foul troubles for Villanova's Corey Fisher (4 fouls) and Washington's Quincy Pondexter (3 fouls). If the boxscore is a good guide, offensive rebounds are going to be a problem, especially if the squad continues to have difficulties scoring efficiently.
Additional Links
The boxscore (.pdf format).
The AP story posted on the USA Basketball website (reproduced on most of the D1 school sites for squad members).
Post game quotes by the coach and several squad members (Corey Fisher among them).
2 comments:
Hello greyCat.
I was just about to comment that I would yank the green light from Fisher on the 3 Pt. shots BUT I just see he had a much better game against Russia in a win(67-63). Good to see. His minutes were up (vs Battle) and in fact they were the most of anyone on the team. He was 2/4 from downtown and 5/11 overall. 3 steals, 2 de rebounds, no turnovers, no assists, and 3/4 from the line. Team US still has some things to work on though. While our rebounds were up and our PF's were down and our 3 pt attempts down, overall we still shot terrible from 3. And, our FT % wasn't so hot.
At least we're headed in the right direction. However, I have no idea how good the Rufskys are or are supposed to be.
I almost had the same feeling Stan, but the entire squad is struggling with their shot. The USA squad has yet to break 100 in any of their three exhibition games (a point per possession), and while I am not familiar with the international squads, I suspect these four squads are among the best in the field. The USA should clobber Finland and South Korea (their two opponents in the Group H pool). Watch the Eff. on Offense, it should be (well) above 100. The key (until the squad finds the range) will be tight defense and controlling the boards. Corey had a very good game against the Russians, I will post the stats later this evening.
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